In the manufacturing industry, vacuum cups are commonly utilized to engage, hold, and move large, flat panels, such as sheet metal and glass. The vacuum cups are typically connected to vacuum cup mounts that provide quick disconnect couplings to allow for quick and simple removability of the vacuum cup from the vacuum cup mount. The vacuum cup mount may be connected to a modular tooling system for manipulation by a robot or other manipulator.
Previous vacuum cup mounts have included a housing fabricated from metal. The vacuum cup mount may house a venturi for providing vacuum pressure to the vacuum cup in response to positive pressure supplied to the venturi by a hose or air line connected to a pressurized air source. Alternatively, the vacuum cup mount may receive vacuum pressure from an external vacuum pressure source through a hose or air line. A blow-off valve is also provided for supplying positive pressure to the vacuum cup to allow for the release of a workpiece from the vacuum cup, and a pressurized air source is connected to the vacuum cup mount using a hose or air line to supply pressurized air to the blow-off valve. Typically, the pressurized air source is connected to the housing of the vacuum cup mount in a fixed location on the housing, such that the position of the hose or air line that supplies pressurized air to the vacuum cup mount must be taken into consideration during the design of the modular tooling that supports the vacuum cup mount.
Previous vacuum cup mounts have included quick release mounts for the vacuum cup in the form of a bayonet coupling. Typically, the bayonet coupling is formed by providing a flange that is opposite a base wall of the vacuum cup mount. The flange defines an opening through which a mounting member that is attached to the vacuum cup may pass. Once the mounting member of the vacuum cup passes through the opening, the mounting member of the vacuum cup is rotated with respect to the vacuum cup mount to position portions of the mounting member of the vacuum cup mount in recesses that are formed between the flange and the base wall of the vacuum cup mount. In these designs, the complex geometry of the flange, recesses, and base wall of the vacuum cup mount make such vacuum cup mounts with bayonet couplings expensive to manufacture.